Waste minimisation benefits

Demonstrating that manufacturing companies can benefit from a well planned and implemented waste minimisation programme is the experience of Merck Ltd, one of the programme s first case studies (GC16), at its chemical reagents manufacturing site and offices. 

Any waste minimisation project will cost money to implement. As discussed earlier, this money has to come eventually from sales of product. If company profits are to be maintained or increased then the cost of the waste minimisation project must be justified against this criterion from the outset. It is therefore useful at this point to consider the costs and benefits of waste minimisation to provide a framework for cost/benefit calculations. It is vital to carry out this exercise for any project designed to... 

The process of waste minimisation has many facets. One major goal must be to enhance the intrinsic selectivity of any given process so that less waste is produced. A second is to provide a means of recovering reagents in a form which allows easy collection and regeneration. Yet another is to replace stoichiometric processes by catalytic ones. Solids, as catalysts or as supports for other reagents, offer potential for benefit in all of these areas. 

Benefits of efficient waste minimisation and the techniques being used... 

The two commonly used instruments discussed allow both laboratory and nearline colour measurements to be made. With the advent of almost fully automated lines, true on-line colour measurement would be of great value in many factories. McFarlane (1988) discusses the economic benefits of on-line and closed-loop systems. His paper highlights closer adherence to specifications, minimisation of waste during start-up and product change, as well as an increase in process efficiency and plant throughput as key issues. 

Clearly, early adaptation of a batch process to a continuous operation can have significant long term financial benefits and is often the key to substantial minimisation of wastes. 

Cooperation between chemists and chemical engineers is vital to achieve cleaner process technology. The scale-up of processes from the laboratory bench to pilot plant, and eventually to full scale plant, is an inexact science and the parameters of scale-up are less understood than they might be. The disciplines required for process development are not well taught nor well practised in the UK chemical industry. The consequences are the less-than-optimum processes producing chemical wastes which require disposal. The overall costs of this aspect were set out earlier as were the benefits of minimising the social, political and economic costs. 

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